Broken Mirrors
by Heleentje
Summary: Albus and Scorpius work on an astronomy assignment. It's really all just an excuse to look at the stars. Friendship/pre-slash


This story was written for Isisanubis, who won my offer during the first auction round of gulf_aid_now over at Livejournal. It didn't turn out as slashy as I would've liked (it barely qualifies as pre-slash), but I hope you enjoy anyway!

Also, be warned for astronomy and astronomy-related angst. The Malfoys make it easy.

**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter series and its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

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**Broken Mirrors  
**

"Remind me how I ended up with you again?"

"I didn't hear you complain," Albus shot back, smiling as he sat down on the grass. It was cold, much too cold to be outside, but the snow that had covered the ground just a few weeks ago had already melted. Spring wasn't here just yet, but it was definitely on its way.

Scorpius sat down with an exaggerated sigh. "That was before I knew you were this bad at astronomy."

"You know I'm bad at it," Albus said, completely unperturbed. "You've known ever since first year, so you knew perfectly well what you were getting yourself into."

Scorpius chuckled, but didn't reply. Instead he took out his quill and a couple of star charts, handing one of them to Albus before he closed his bag again and tossed it a little to the side. Their assignment was simple: without using telescopes, note down as many stars and constellations you can recognise. It was a silly, pointless assignment, not suited for third-years at all, and they'd all agreed that it was just an excuse to pair up students from different houses.

"They need to pay more attention," Albus said out loud. To anyone else, it would have sounded like a complete non-sequitur, but Scorpius just nodded.

"I mean, they act like we're out to kill each other," Albus continued. "We've been friends since…"

"Christmas, first year," Scorpius supplied helpfully, laughing at the memory. "Father threw a fit."

"Oh, that's not nice," Albus grinned. He brandished the star chart with a flourish, and Scorpius leant back slightly so he didn't get hit in the face. He rolled open his own chart carefully and took his ink bottle.

"Let's get started. I want to finish this before the moon sets."

"It's barely half eight," Albus protested.

"Yeah, and the moon sets at ten." Scorpius pointed at the small slice of moon visible in the sky. They'd picked this time for a good reason. There was enough light so they didn't trip over their own feet, but the full moon was still a long time away, so the moonlight wouldn't blot out too many stars. Not to mention that being close to the Forbidden Forest on a full moon wasn't that brilliant of an idea in the first place. It was a clear night, and even though they were out without permission, they figured they were adept enough at hiding from teachers that they could finish the assignment without being caught. It was for a good cause anyway.

Albus craned his neck, trying to find a constellation he recognised. He nudged Scorpius quickly when he found the signature three stars that marked Orion's belt.

"Orion, right?"

Scorpius nodded, trying to draw the constellation in the near-dark, but failing. "I don't see why we couldn't go to the Astronomy Tower for this," he complained, putting down his quill and taking out his wand. "It's cold. _Lumos_."

"What, you think anyone actually uses the Astronomy Tower for astronomy?" Albus replied, frowning a bit. There was something about Orion's belt, a trick to find another star, but he didn't remember how it worked…

"We could've chased them out," Scorpius said. He carefully wrote down the names of the stars that formed the constellation, only to stop when he reached one near the top right. His features hardened a little and Albus shot him a confused look that transformed into a grimace when Scorpius labelled the star. Bellatrix.

Albus patted him on the shoulder briefly and continued talking, hoping to distract him. "I have it on good authority that Rose has a new boyfriend. And that we were, and I quote: 'not to come anywhere near her unless I wanted Mum to find out about that thing we did last month in the library.'"

Scorpius didn't even laugh. "I'm not like them. I don't ever want to be like them."

"I know, mate." Albus said softly. "No one's saying you are."

"Aren't they? How about that Hufflepuff last month? Or that one Ravenclaw first year who seems convinced I'm going to curse him if he so much as looks at me? Or your brother, for that matter."

Albus made a mental note to have a word with James. Or better yet, let Mum do it. "He's a git. You know very well he's just doing it to get a rise out of you, why do you even care what he says?"

"Because everyone else believes him," Scorpius said. "I'm not my father, I'm not my grandfather, and I'm nothing at all like _her_." He practically spat out the last word.

"Listen, I know it's not easy-"

"Oh, what would you know?" Scorpius turned away abruptly. "Face it, Al, you've got it easy. You're the son of the famous Harry Potter, everyone likes you, everyone wants to be your friend… You even look exactly like him."

"Exactly!" Albus almost shouted. "And you think that's fun? Look at me! Everyone expects me to be just like Dad and I'm not! I'm not this big hero who can save everyone, I'm just me. I'm just Al."

"At least people think you're the hero." Scorpius said.

Albus fiddled with his quill for a bit before replying. "I want people to see me, not my father. It's like I've got no identity of my own."

"Yeah well, look at us," Scorpius said softly, shoulders shaking.

"Huh?" Albus moved over, cautiously putting a hand on his shoulder, but when Scorpius turned around, he was laughing.

"Just look at us, Al. We look exactly like them! You just need to draw a scar or something and you're just like your father."

"If you start using that gel again…"

Scorpius pushed him away. "No way, too much trouble! And come on, people will always think we're our fathers. Why not shake them up a bit?"

"We'll switch roles!" Albus, said, grinning. "You'll be the hero and I'll be the super villain, and then we'll get secret names! You know, like in those Muggle comics!"

"Better! We'll just be unassuming wizards for the rest of our lives!" Scorpius laughed, his voice carrying over the lake.

"Can I get a different name at least?" Albus smiled. "Maybe I can be named after some sort of constellation, like you. Where's yours, anyway?"

Scorpius sobered. "You can't see it now, only in summer. You'd think they'd give me the name of a constellation I could actually see."

Albus shifted, putting down his quill and paper. He hadn't been using it anyway. "That's why you're so good at astronomy, isn't it? Because of your name?"

Scorpius nodded. "I asked Mother to tell me about my name when I was a little kid, and I wanted to know more."

"Where would it be if you could see it?," Albus asked. "Scorpius, I mean."

Scorpius pointed at a spot a little above the horizon on the other side of the lake. "There. But it's not there now."

"Pity. "Albus finally got around to copying down Orion, helped by the light from Scorpius' wand. "You know what? When it's summer we'll go watch Scorpius! You can come over to our house."

"Your Dad won't like that. Anyway, it's a stupid constellation. Not much to see."

Albus huffed. "You're my best friend, he'll have to deal with it. I'm sure Mum will convince him."

Scorpius went oddly silent at those words. He threw Albus a sideways glance, then looked away again. Albus poked him.

"Did I say anything wrong?"

"No, it's fine, I just don't get many people calling me their best friend." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, it's a stupid name too."

"You are," Albus said softly. "My best friend. And it's not a stupid name."

Scorpius stared at him. "I'm named after a constellation. My entire family is."

"At least you get a name of your own," Albus said, and Scorpius grinned. It was an old joke. "Me, I'm Albus Severus, named after 'the two greatest headmasters'. You know, the one who Uncle Ron says manipulated Dad and the other one, who hated Dad. Now what's that supposed to say about me?"

"You're destined to become a manipulative git?" Scorpius deadpanned. "Nomen est omen and all that."

"Oi!" Albus elbowed him. "I take offence to that! And don't go all fancy quoting Latin at me!"

The ensuing elbowing war lasted for several minutes, with Albus' best quill and Scorpius' ink bottle perishing in the process and both of their scarves coming undone. Eventually, after collapsing half on top of each other, Albus finally managed to get his scarf back, grab his wand and mutter a quick _reparo_. It repaired the ink bottle, but the ink was irretrievably lost, much to Scorpius dismay. He only stopped complaining about it after Albus had taken out his own ink bottle and promised to buy him a new one the next time they went to Hogsmeade. Albus thought it wasn't a fair deal, since Scorpius had broken his quill, but he contented himself with copying Scorpius' star chart.

He'd had just copied Castor and Pollux from Scorpius, much to the latter's dismay, when he found the need to speak again. "Now James, he gets named after my grandfather and his best friend. And Lily…"

He trailed off and pointed at the brightest spot he could see. "Look, that's Sirius, right?"

"Not even close," Scorpius said, grabbing his hand firmly. "That's not even a star, it's Venus. Sirius," he guided Albus' hand, "is over there, near Orion. Just follow Orion's Belt down."

So that had been the trick he'd been looking for! Albus nodded happily and Scorpius abruptly let go of his hand. He missed the warmth. February was cold.

"But anyway, Sirius Black was Dad's godfather," Albus said, squinting up at the star. "So James gets his name too, because he's the firstborn. And then they've already run out of good names to give to a boy, so I just get the leftovers. Thanks, Dad."

"That's not really fair," Scorpius said softly. "Your Dad loves you a lot."

"I know, it's just weird."

"Father says Sirius Black was family of us. A cousin of Grandmother or something." Scorpius said slowly. "I don't think she liked him much."

"All Purebloods are related." Albus said, nodding sagely. It was a story he'd heard more than once. "Hey Scorp, since you're a Pureblood, shouldn't you be shunning me or something? I'm just a measly Half-blood."

"Shut up, I don't care." Scorpius grinned. "Or did you suddenly have a change of mind?"

"Me?" Albus leaned back so he was lying flat on his back, wincing a little at the cold, hard ground. "I'm honoured to be allowed in the presence of the great Scorpius Malfoy!"

"Cut it out already." Scorpius was grinning as well. "If you're so honoured, do something useful and help me finish this chart instead of going to sleep."

"You can probably do it ten times faster than me."

"Stop complaining and look for the Pole Star," Scorpius said. "You ought to at least know that."

Albus squinted at the starry sky. There were so many stars to see… But he knew where the Pole Star was, he was sure of it. "Right, so I look for the Plough, right? And then the outer two stars…"

Scorpius nodded. "You're almost there."

"Outer two stars, multiply that length five times… There!" Albus pointed up at a bright star, not as bright as Sirius, but clearly visible nonetheless. "That's it, isn't it?"

"Very good, you're learning." Scorpius noted the position of the star. "Remember the constellation?"

"Something with a bear… Ursa Major? Minor?"

"Minor." Scorpius said, putting down his quill and taking Albus' hand again. "See it? It looks a lot like the Plough."

He didn't immediately let go this time. Albus didn't mind, it was cold anyway. How much longer would they have to stay outside?

"It's funny, though," Scorpius said suddenly, switching subjects again. "We look exactly like our fathers, and we're not the same at all. Like a reflection that went wrong or something."

Albus hummed. "I don't mind. I don't want to be like Dad, and we wouldn't be friends if you were like your father, would we?"

"True!" Scorpius laughed. "Maybe the world would be a safer place!"

"No, it would be a sadder place," Albus said, and Scorpius stopped laughing.

"Yeah. You're right, it would be."

"I like not being my Dad," Albus continued. "I like to be just Al, you know?"

Scorpius didn't reply, but nodded understandingly, patting him on the shoulder at the same time. He let himself fall down, so he was flat on his back like Albus was, and started pointing out stars and planets, softly telling Albus about their significance as if he was telling a story. They didn't even bother to pick up the star charts, and only when the moon was almost completely gone did Scorpius sit up again..

"Almost ten," he said. "We can't stay out too late, we'll get caught."

Albus drew his jacket closer and tugged at his scarf. He liked just lying here, but it was getting colder, especially since they weren't moving all that much. He frowned at the star chart, then at the sky above him. So many stars, so many constellations…

"Let's come back tomorrow," he said finally. "The assignment's only due next Wednesday."

Scorpius sighed and looked at the half-filled star chart. "Alright. But let's do a little less stargazing and a little more working on the assignment next time."

"What for?" Albus protested. "The stargazing is the fun part!"

Scorpius smirked and helped him up. "Watch out, Albus Potter. I'll make an astronomer out of you yet."

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_Questions, comments and concrit very welcome!_


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